Thursday, May 30, 2013

Captain America...

.....and his loyal side-kick, "Flower Girl" are now protecting the Seevers household! We are big fans of the Marvel Heros and I got this idea after Marshall took the cat food trash can lid out of the barn and started using it as a shield.  I got the lids at Orcheln's for $2 a piece because they had more lids than cans. Oh, and Flower Girl's powers??  The crystals on her shield are magic and she melts things with her cuteness!
 
 
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Sunday, May 12, 2013

Mother's Day

I feel so blessed to be a mom today!  Life with 5 young children is not always easy, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  I just hope they aren't ready to trade ME by the time they're grown!
 
 
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Gracie Is A Teenager!!!

I can't believe we are now parents of a teenager!! Gracie is 13! In addition to sharing her birthday with Mother's Day today, she will now share her birthday with Tessa's first litter of 4 kittens! Right after opening presents we all went out to the barn to get a sneak peek.

 
 
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Saturday, May 11, 2013

Gemma's First Track Meet

Gemma competed in the All-Lutheran Track Meet today, the first of her career!  28 mph winds from the N/NW and very cold!  She took 1st place in the 100 meter, 2nd place in the Long jump and 5th in the High Jump!





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Dairy Cow Doctoring

Earlier this week, I was in the barn looking around for kittens that a mother cat had moved.  While searching, I found a place in the wall I had never noticed before. There was a slat of wood with two leather straps held on by nails. You can lift the slat to reveal a hole in the wall.  It looked like a great place to hide kittens so I hesitantly reached my arm into the deep, dark space.  I didn't find any kittens, but I did pull out all these old bottles of remedies, liniments and salves.  Grandma Arlene confirmed that her Dad used these items to treat the milking cows when they had medical problems.  One bottle contains something that still smells like Mercurachrome. Another held liniment at one time made by a company called "Rawleigh's" and another called "Sloans Liniment."  One bottle still has oil in it and smells like garlic.  The round, green bottle contains a salve that made me think of Vicks, and the tin is still full of "Watkins Petro Carbo Medicated First Aid Salve."  It's so fun to speculate what conditions he must have been treating with each of these products.  Do you have a grandma or grandpa that used to milk cows in the "old days".  Show them this picture and let me know if any of it looks familiar to them! (All the bottles except the garlic oil contain dish soap and water for cleaning purposes.)  Click on photo to enlarge.
 
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Kittens-Part 1

Today while cleaning the barn I discovered 3 little kittens hidden in the old feeding trough in the NW corner.  I was so excited that our barn cat, Tessa, had her kittens and I coudn't wait to show the kids.  But then Tessa appeared in front of me and still looked fat as ever!  I even picked her up and gave her belly a close look and it was definitely still swollen. Doug Nuttleman stopped over later and, still perplexed,  I asked him to take a look at her, but in one second he says, "That cat ain't nursin' nothin', she's still pregnant!"  At that point I had to accept that ANOTHER cat, that we thought was a boy all this time,  had recently  birthed kittens in the barn!  Tessa is due sometime next week.

 
 
 
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May Snow Storm!

Gary Rolf got up early today and moved stuff out the NW corner of the barn for us so we could set up stalls for the horses.  After we secured/repaired the doors and brought feed and water in, Gracie and Megan led Magic, Dreamzz and Happy inside for the first time! The horses were really nervous at first but after standing in cold rain all day, I think they were relieved to be inside.  3-5 inches are expected overnight!

 
 
  
 
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